Chapter 356: Comprehensive Settlement of Jueqiao Pass

The dense snowflakes were scattered all over the place, and in a blink of an eye, the world was covered in silver.

Perhaps because the temperature in the mountains was relatively low, it was clearly approaching spring. A strong wind blew over, and a heavy snowfall was blown.

"Damn, it's so dark, it feels like I'm back in Sunshine City..."

Looking at the gray sky through the window, Ji Ming, who was awakened by the temperature change, shrank back into the quilt.

But after closing his eyes and pretending to be dead for a while, he found that he was no longer sleepy. He could only pull out the system and thought about browsing the player forum first to prepare himself again.

As a result, I glanced at the gossip section and found that the most popular post was actually...

"Wow, is the lord so cruel? Was Winster really caught and hanged in public?"

It had been seven days since they left Jueqiao Pass in the north, but they had left. In the past few days, they could still learn about the situation of Jueqiao Pass from church spies and passing caravans from time to time, and each one was more sensational than the last.

Today, it was said that a big merchant disappeared mysteriously, leaving behind an orphan and a widow who were inexplicably escorted back to their hometown by the guarding troops.

Tomorrow, it was said that a legion commander voluntarily resigned, and several of his direct descendants were also stripped of their hats, and their subsequent whereabouts were unknown.

The day after tomorrow, it was simply reported that the third young master of the Jueqiao family had offended someone he shouldn't have offended, and was now locked up by the Duke, and might never show up again.

The guards in the caravan would curiously chat with the people who told them these things, and then make some shocking or emotional remarks.

The three people who saw this scene all kept silent, just shook their heads and showed an expression like "stupid human beings".

Yes, on that night, after a long silence, Hetman proposed a deal to them after drinking a bottle of brandy.

Hetman promised to use the most serious attitude and the most severe means to settle accounts with everyone on the list, and at the same time pay them a large sum of money as hush money, and swear as a duke that they will definitely help when they need it in the future.

And the three of them need to keep everything that happened in Jueqiao Pass confidential, and not spread any news related to the assassination, leaving him enough time and space to deal with the follow-up.

...But it is said to be three people, in fact, it mainly depends on whether the person involved, Eleanor, is willing to nod her head. Ji Ming and Tenis are just following along.

This matter is serious. Eleanor walked back and forth in the secret room several times, and dragged the two of them to ask for advice repeatedly, and then made up her mind.

——Since the assassination has already happened and Viper has become our spy, it is better to ask for more benefits than to continue to dwell on this matter.

So the deal was reached, and Hetman immediately transformed into the King of Jueqiao Great West, using the list of participants in the assassination plan as a book of life and death, and carried out a major purge in the city.

But killing is killing, this is a knife in his own territory, and it also involves several important senior officials including his son. He can't blindly believe this information with his eyes closed.

After investigating behind the scenes, it was found that there were indeed some problems with this list. The main problem was... it was not complete.

Since they could participate in such a crazy thing as assassinating the princess, it is impossible for this group of people who like to take risks to have not done other bad things!

And once they follow these bad things, they will bring up a large group of people like lifting a fishing net, and their status will become higher and higher, and the scope will become wider and wider.

Hetman was also shocked when he saw this. It turned out that my huge Jueqiao Pass had rotted into this state under his nose! ?

If it were an ordinary person, he might have been lenient, but the Duke knew that, let alone these old ministers, even his own third son could not compare to the century-old cause of the family.

So after some investigation, he made up his mind, and the final liquidation scope even exceeded the scope of the list, which was considered to have caught all the insects in the city in one go.

Although Tenis and Eleanor knew that Hetman was strangling the traitor, they were not in Jueqiao, and they would definitely not know so much detail based on the intelligence collected by others.

But now there are nearly 500,000 players, and it is inevitable that there will be different goals and even conflicts of interest among small groups, so the division has been completed internally. Even if a few rollovers are discovered, this disgust will not be superimposed on the overall image of the pioneers.

So with many players as spies, Ji Ming boldly released many seemingly ordinary "puzzle tasks" through the system, but in fact, when multiple investigation results are combined, important information can be obtained, and finally the ending of the third young master was successfully known.

…

“Tsk tsk, now the fateful couple is flying together.”

Ji Ming had not expected that Hetman could be so cruel. He had mentioned this matter in private when chatting with the other two people. They all thought that He Jueqiao would not be willing to kill his own third child.

Who knew that he not only killed him, but also killed him in front of his children, just to let them know what the consequences of betraying the family and the kingdom would be.

Such decisiveness, such willingness, and such ruthlessness made Ji Ming think more highly of him in his heart. As a neighbor, he is indeed an ally worth cultivating.

However, if it was just this, Ji Ming would not put him in the position of "friend". There was another reason that made him make such a decision...

The monotonous wind and snow and the sound of carriages and horses were suddenly broken by chaos and quarrels. Ji Ming sat up and looked out the window again, and found a small village on another hill in the distance.

The village was very poor. The tallest house was made of cracked stone covered with thin hay. It was not even worth entering to loot in an RPG game.

At this moment, several soldiers in worn-out jackets were walking through the village, trying to snatch food from the crying village women, with an arrogant attitude like bandits.

Seeing that the Chosen One pushed open the window, the Knight of the Church slowed down his horse.

"That is the family emblem of Baron Frost Wing. He is the local lord. Now... he should be sending troops to collect taxes."

Ji Ming nodded and closed the window.

This is the "good" part of Hetman. Although the tax at Jueqiao Pass is definitely not light, he at least knows that the poor people have no money, and whoever has money can earn it. Moreover, the tax structure is very simple, and they will not add items for no reason.

On the other hand, these southern nobles of BYD are not as strong as the west in terms of backbone, not as rich as the east in terms of wealth, and not as powerful as the north. Instead, they are very smart in levying heavy taxes and oppressing the people.

As for why Ji Ming, who should have taken decisive action, killed the miscellaneous soldiers, noble knights, and mercenaries in succession, and finally forced the born baron to kneel down and kowtow to apologize in front of him, and then waited for the weak country girl who was rescued to throw herself into his arms, and slept until dawn with the accompaniment of earthy love words, and maxed out his pleasure points in one breath, did not take action...

The answer is useless.

According to the laws of the kingdom, all the people in the fiefdom belong to the private property of the nobles. As long as they don't cause too serious consequences, the masters can do whatever they want.

Although as the state religion, the Holy Light Church can choose one day a week to see a doctor for free, and can also pay for the porridge in a tent, but if you interfere with the noble master's "legal taxation".

Sorry, this is your overstepping of authority. If you bring the matter to the capital, the church will not listen.

And even if the local nobles are willing to give face to the three people and say that this matter is easy to talk about, I will not collect this wave of taxes for the time being, after all, I am not a demon.

Ha, of course, how can the devil compare to this group of borns? After the three of them leave, the villages that have been spared will probably be retaliated twice!

So Ji Ming is not the first good man to see this scene, nor is he the first strong man who wants to take action, but everything in the past has told him that this will not work.

Instead of jumping into this mud pit again, it is better to cherish your feathers, not to work hard for a long time and end up with a meaningless, or even a messy ending.

So what they can do is to camp in the wild all the way, not to go to the nobles' castles to share the glory and wealth, out of sight, out of mind, and be a blind man.

——But do we really have to pretend not to see it?

Is there no way to solve the problem?

Yes! Of course there is!

[Are there any good brothers who want to explore Maple Forest Territory together? Currently, we are short of two. We are mainly against the nobility. I have a sister. I want a tank.]

[The eighth dispatched army of Gunblade has started recruiting. The target is the mud town in Xiaohu Territory. It is expected to be stationed for two weeks. The means are mild.]

[I am going to save the people in a different direction. I have already established a relationship with Viscount Sos. Does anyone have any inspiration or ideas?]

In reality, even if you are not rich and powerful, you should not have many memories of hunger, and your education level will not be low.

Now it seems very far away for them, but for some other people, the dirty things that may be within reach are vividly seen in front of them. After a short period of confusion, they are angry.

——What era is it? They are still doing these corrupt and backward things!

So on the day when Ji Ming left Jueqiao Pass, a brave player could no longer bear it and repelled the noble lackeys who were showing off their power in the newly opened map Xiaohu Territory.

Baron Xiaohu was furious when he heard the news and immediately sent family knights to suppress this group of mobs who ran out of nowhere.

But this group of guys who are the anti-examples of knightly virtues can hardly even climb up the horse, how can they be the opponents of these players with an average level of 20+?

If their backbone came from the [Justice] Guild, they were more cautious to prevent the players from killing them, I'm afraid they would really leave a pile of corpses.

If the baron was a man of integrity, he should have led the army in person. This is no longer an ordinary mob, and he must fight hard!

But if he had integrity, how could he raise such a group of private soldiers who run away like pigs? So he was frightened and decisively chose to cry to his father.

Who is the father?

The Lord is the father!

He has Jueqiao Pass behind him, this barren territory, and he can only live a luxurious life by eating the little that leaks from Jueqiao's fingers. He quickly asked the old butler to organize an envoy group and bring several cars of generous gifts to ask for help.

Player: What the hell? Why do I wonder why no one wants this caravan?

As a result, the players ruthlessly intercepted them halfway. That night, the nearby villages were filled with the smell of meat, and people could not walk the next day.

Seeing the crying old butler, the baron was furious again, thinking that if I can't beat the bandits, I can't beat you? He immediately sent his hawks and dogs to these villages to make trouble for the villagers.

But the villagers also have something to say, sir, it's not that we are in cahoots with the bandits, it's them who force us to eat. Look, when we can't eat anymore, they force us to drink. It's so painful! Too painful!

The Knight Commander's beard was almost blown away when he heard this. Can he listen to the nonsense of these people today? With a clang, he drew out his sword and prepared to chop a few people to establish his authority.

But before he raised the knife, he was stopped by the old butler who came with him to "vent his anger".

"You can't chop, sir! You can't chop!"

"You... which side are you on!"

The old housekeeper was full of sorrow.

"Sir, take a good look!"

The Knight Commander frowned and looked at him, stunned.

Yes, as the leader of the Knights, these villagers usually dared not even look up at him, let alone say a word.

But today, not only did they dare to look directly at him, but they even dared to laugh. It was obvious that they had already suffered the consequences of resistance from the bandits and had become more confident!

Can they be suppressed?

Yes! Killing three will be enough.

But what about next time?

Five?

Seven?

When the hatred is so deep that it can be seen through the bones, only massacre can solve it.

And if the church intervenes, the baron will file a complaint, and naturally there will be a master who doesn't like the church to help out, and then wait for the church to take the initiative to compensate.

But if the bandits incited the people to revolt, according to the rules, the capital would only ask the nearby nobles to form a coalition to help suppress the rebellion and recover the lost territory.

Let’s not talk about what would happen if it failed. Even if it succeeded... you have to understand that recovery and recovery are two different things!

——Ah? My brothers worked hard to help you get your territory back, shouldn’t you show some appreciation?

By then, maybe more people will “take” away than you will be robbed. Chunchun has found a bunch of wild fathers for himself!

But this matter can’t be let go. I am a noble lord, and I have to save my face. How can you...

But just when the baron was struggling, he heard that the neighboring nobles’ territories were also in turmoil, and several soldiers were really killed by them. Now they are at home in a rage.

Ah, thinking about it this way, it seems that I am not at a loss if no one died.

Moreover, although these bandits were brutal, they knew their limits. They did not invade their own towns or plunder passing caravans. They also knew the rules that the nobles could not kill them, and only attacked those few soldiers who were originally consumables.

So forget it~

As long as they can collect taxes to continue to enjoy a good life, then let the few poor people be alone. Anyway, I don’t care about them!

The open-minded Baron of Little Lake decided to tolerate the offense of these bandits, but he didn’t know that in the player’s forum, just below the death of Winster, the theme of another post was——

[I suggest that everyone should be patient first, first make the territory bigger, the influence higher, and the friends more, and then turn against these noble insects! ]

[Yes! When the time comes, we will send them all to the guillotine in one breath! ]